Guidelines Galore

Trail Fund and NZ Professional Mountain Bike Association Conference

Held in Rotorua, the annual Trail Fund Conference again provided attendees with a chance to ride together, dig together and find out more about what’s going on in the trail building space around the country. It was co-hosted with the newly formed NZ Professional Mountain Bike Association.

After a morning spent riding the Whakarewarewa Forest, almost 50 attendees from varying trail building backgrounds came together for a series of ‘lightning’ talks.

Andrew Wilson from Rotorua Trails Trust kicked off the conference with a summary of the economic impact study conducted on trails in Rotorua. Jamie Mead from Skyline Bike Park, who is part of the recently formed New Zealand Professional Mountain Bikers Association, discussed the association’s reason for being and the adventure safety guidelines that would be created for mountain-bike activities.

Other topics included an update on the Backcountry Trust, an overview of the new mountain bike instructor guidelines being developed and a presentation from Taupo-based engineer Michael Robertson about the regime for inspecting trail building structures.

The evening’s most discussed presentation, delivered by Trail Fund chairperson Russel Garlick, was an update on the work being led by NZRA in developing national trail qualifications. Sign up for Trail Fund’s e-newsletter to stay up to speed on information in this space.

On Sunday, Trail Fund led trail builders from around the North Island through its Trail crew and Trail Leader courses. To learn more about these courses or to host one for your trail building group, get in touch with Trail Fund on trailcrew@trailfund.org.nz .

Need money for your trails? Trail Fund’s next general round closes on 1 November, so get started on your application now! Need money for a trail on public conservation land? Get in touch with the Backcountry Trust.

Words & Images: Meagan Robertson/Jo Boyle

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